The present invention relates to the mounting and attachment of covers to wheels of vehicles. Covers protect the internal wheel and rim structure, most notably the nuts and bolts that hold the rim to the wheel. Covers also provide aesthetic designs with the wheels, in place of the unsightly wheel and rim structure. Heretofore various types of arrangements have been used to hold such covers to the tire rims.
Some prior wheel covers have used a complicated arrangement of annular spring rods that press multiple latching members outwardly into an annular groove of the tire rim. Other previous devices have lug members that are integrally molded with the rest of the wheel cover. These lugs act to engage in the annular tire groove. However, if one of such lugs breaks, the entire wheel cover is rendered useless.
Other devices heretofore used have included a clip that fits with the cover and which has a projection that fits within the tire rim groove. Examples of such clips are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,520 to Connell; U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,789 to Schwarz; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,619 to Beisch et al.
Other such arrangements are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,763 to Harris; U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,952 to Arvidsson; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,346 to Kretschmer.
The Connell patent shows various sorts of clips held in an annular recess of a wheel cover. FIG. 4 of the Connell patent shows a plastic retainer which has a part fitting within the tire rim groove and a part that projects into a recess in the wheel cover. However, such a retainer, being made of plastic, does not provide adequate gripping force needed to hold the wheel cover to the tire rim, nor does it provide necessary strength. The Connell clip further has separate molded legs 43a and 43b which are necessary to provide appropriate spring action during insertion. This militates against retention once the cover is installed. Further, in order to hold the Connell retainer to the cover, a hole in the recess wall is needed to receive a locking cam.
The Connell patent shows other retainers which are made of steel. The version of the clip shown in FIG. 2 has a U-bend that extends into an arm with a barb for engaging a tire rim. Sharp tabs help hold the clip within the recess of a cover. The Connell patent shows other versions of steel clips as well.
The Schwarz patent shows a clip with an arm having barbs to hold the arm in a cover recess. The clip has a U-shaped bend which extends into a curved arm having barbs for pressing against the surface of a tire rim.
The Beisch patent shows a clip with a tab fitting within a cover recess. The clip has an extended member which is bent at several turns. A barb projects from the clip and fits against the tire rim surface.
Such prior clip arrangements have shortcomings in providing gripping strength and in providing the resiliency needed to facilitate attachment and detachment of the cover. The U-bends and other bends in such prior devices provide less than desirable gripping action and strength, and create difficulties in manufacturing, as well. The steel composition of such clips can also create problems with the insertion and removal of the assemblies because of the lack of proper resilient action at appropriate times.
Difficulties have arisen with the assembly shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,414 in that the assembly must rely on the length of the detent nose 74 and the clip arms 52 to hold the nose and arms within the tire rim groove 100. However, to move the nose 74 and arms 52 of that assembly into alignment with groove 100, the nose and arms must slide along the rim wall 102. As such sliding occurs, the longer length of the detent nose 74 and arms 52 push the clip trunk 38 inwardly as the clip 34 generally pivots about the bottom of the clip feet 48. This inward movement pushes the inner cover wall 24 too far inwardly. This extreme movement of the wall 24 causes the wall to be deformed inwardly, thus causing a weakening of the force that presses the detent nose 74 and clip arms 52 into the groove 100. This weakens the retention of the clip within the recess and permits the clip to work loose from its fixed position. As a result the clip can be detached from the cover and the cover can fall off of the wheel. Also, over a period of time the pressure against the inner wall 24 can crack it and thus cause failure of retention ability and disengagement of the cover from the wheel.